Nik and the Shadow of a Ninja feat The Ninja
by xNik Nakx
Summary: Working Title. A story of pranks, amusement, smoking, wagging, and general random behaviour. The life of Slytherin girls, a year younger than the golden trio. Yeah, the summary sucks. The Language could be offensive for some... I suppose.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One: Boarding School**_

_It was the summer holidays. August 12th to be exact. Shinae Daemon, Laura Neil, Nikole Burke and Sarah Watts were sprawled out on the floor in Shinae's new purple bedroom. Shinae had recently moved next door to Nikole and the two best friends were extremely pleased with the new living arrangements. _

"_I can't believe how long this summer has seemed." Laura said, aiming a kick at Nikole. _

"_I know" Sarah muttered, and she looked over at Nikole "Grow up you two" she said, glaring at the abusive twosome with her chocolate brown eyes. _

"_But just think. On September first we'll all be starting new schools. All separate. How did it become that we're all going to Boarding Schools overseas?" Nikole said, ignoring Sarah. The girls had all been nearly inseparable for years, going to the same primary school and preschools. Their parents were all friendly with each other too, going out for lunch frequently to catch up, and none of the mother's minded when the four girls planned spontaneous sleepovers or get-togethers. _

"_Yeah. It's kind of weird" Shinae agreed, before changing the subject. "How do you think I'd look with purple hair?" Shinae asked, fluffing her already fluffy brown hair. All of the other girls laughed. Shinae was known to be rather outrageous, temporarily dying parts of her hair random colours. She loved to watch anime, and spent lots of her spare time surfing the internet for anime related videos and forums. _

"_Awesome. I'm thinking about going black personally." Nikole commented running her fingers through her straightened brown hair thoughtfully. Nikole, however, preferred reading and writing her own stories in her spare time, though no-one ever got to read anything she wrote, and she loved music, especially country. _

"_Emo!" Sarah exclaimed, pointing a threatening finger at Nikole, and Nikole shrugged. Sarah was a Christian girl, and she loved to read vampire novels and do church stuff. Sarah was the only religious person that Nikole and Shinae tolerated, from their strong upbringing in non-religious environments. _

"_Well Laura and I have to go; my mum's picking us up now." Sarah said, and the two girls sat up, and headed out of the door after saying their goodbyes. Laura was the one who Shinae and Nikole often labelled as a tag-a-long, though they loved her all the same and wouldn't wish for a better friend. Laura lived on the internet, playing games and talking with people from all over the world whenever she had time, and her favourite was FarmTown. _

"_Yeah, I have to cook tea tonight, so I better go too" Nikole said, and after hugging her best friend, went outside, and took the gate through to the next property, where her mother was waiting impatiently. _

_The First of September came very quickly for the four girls who were desperate to spend as much time as possible before their separation. All of them were going to Hogwarts, without one another knowing. Nikole had turned up early, since she had Side-Along Apparated with her mother. She was sitting in a compartment, already in her robes, reading a Defence against the Dark arts textbook. Shinae had just arrived, being dropped off by her father, and she were looking through the Compartments for a place to sit. _

"_Nik?" she asked, as she entered the compartment where her best friend sat, utterly confused. _

"_Hogwarts, Shi?" she replied, grinning. Nikole had known about Hogwarts all her life, though she had been sworn to secrecy. Remembering back to when she had said goodbye to her father this morning, he had told her that she'd be surprised about how fun Hogwarts was going to be. She could guess that this was what her father had meant. Hogwarts was going to be a lot more enjoyable with her best friend. _

"_The one thing we couldn't tell each other as best friends turned out to be the one thing we had in common." Shinae said, looking around in a day dreamy way. Nikole helped her put her trunk on the luggage rack before the two girls took a seat opposite each other and talked about how excited they were and what they though Hogwarts was going to be like, Nikole's Defence textbook laying forgotten next to her._

"_Nik? Shi?" Sarah was standing in the doorway, brown hair tied up as usual, and trunk in tow. Nikole and Shinae exclaimed a surprised glance before grinning widely. _

"_Sarah!" the two girls exclaimed, running towards their friend and hugging her. Shinae and Nikole looked at each other excitedly, this was going to be a very fun seven years. _

"_And Laura" stated the only blonde, Laura from behind Sarah, and all the foursome squealed before hugging again. _

"_I can't believe were all going to Hogwarts!" Nikole squealed, and hugged herself as they all sat down, and waited eagerly for the train to move. They chatted about Hogwarts and what their parents had told them about the magical school. _

"_So are you guy's purebloods or muggle borns? I'm a pureblood" Shinae said proudly, looking at her friends. Shinae's father had been loosely associated with the Dark Lord Voldemort, though Shinae liked to keep that to herself, for fear of being isolated because of that, though she knew that lots of other students would also have the same background, but some other students would be more proud of it. _

"_Pureblood" Nikole muttered, obviously not as pleased with her heritage as Shinae. Secretly, Nikole's grandparents had both been Death Eaters, though her parents had still been at school when Voldemort met his downfall in 1981. _

"_Half-blood" Laura and Sarah said in unison, and they grinned at each other. More pleased with their muggle relatives, which gave them an insight to the muggle world that lots of purebloods didn't get. Shinae and Nikole, however, had been raised the muggle way, despite their families ties to the Dark side. _

"_What house do you want to be in Shi?" Nikole asked in interest. Nikole hoped that all four of them would be in the same house, as a multi-house friendship would be pushed to the limit if her parents weren't exaggerating how strong house rivalries were. _

"_Slytherin, my mum's side of the family has been in there for almost a hundred years. And My dad's side has been mostly Ravenclaws" Shinae answered her friend, who brightened. _

"_Oh, I do hope we'll be in Slytherin together! My whole family's been in Slytherin, as long as there have been records of that. My mum and dad were Head Boy and Girl, so I hope I can continue the tradition." Nikole said, and Shinae smiled brightly. Shinae knew that Nikole sought affection from her father, who had a tendency to ignore his oldest child and only daughter. _

"_Slytherin too! On my dad's side, but he hasn't told me much about Hogwarts, he's always on business for the Ministry, he's in Magical Co-operation. My mum's a muggle, and she still isn't used to my dad using magic when he is home" Sarah chipped in brightly. _

"_I hope I am too, I don't want to be a loner! Most of my mum's side have been Hufflepuffs, but my mum and granddad were both Ravenclaws, I didn't even know about Hogwarts until I got my letter, since my mum died ages ago, and my dad's a muggle." Laura said, and when everyone else laughed when she said Hufflepuff, and Nikole rolled her blue eyes at Shinae, Laura went red, but when she mentioned her mother, all of the laughing ceased. _

_The train managed to keep going into the pouring rain, in the dark towards Hogsmeade Station. When the train stopped, the four girls, holding hands so they wouldn't lose each other, they wrestled through the crowd. Lots of students were taller than them, most of them a lot older too, and some, in green and silver Slytherin robes looked very intimidating. _

"_First Years! First Years over here please!" Someone was shouting, and the girls made there way over. There, standing at the end of the platform holding a lantern, was the tallest man any of the girls had ever seen. He was at least twice as tall as the average man and five times as wide, though he did look rather friendly. He greeted a girl in Gryffindor robes who was asking after Harry, who seemed to be lost. A little ginger headed girl was also talking to this Gryffindor girl about Harry. Nikole had seen the red-head girl on the train when she had gone to the bathroom, and she had introduced herself as Ginny Weasley, and she was hoping to get into Gryffindor, where all of her brothers had been. _

"_All here? Alright, follow me" the teacher instructed, and all of the eleven year olds followed down a steep path to the edge of a massive black lake. Little boats were gathered at the edge of the lake. _

"_No more than four to a boat!" the giant teacher yelled, and the four best friends made their way over to a boat, all climbing in cautiously, careful not to fall out, even though they were already soaking wet from the rain. Shinae had mentioned earlier that her sister, who was a fifth year, had told her about the giant squid that resided in the lake. _

"_This is going to be awesome!" Shinae said, and Nikole agreed quickly, and the other two girls in the boat agreed after a few moments. _

_The boats slowly made their way across the lake, and they got their first sight of the majestic castle. _

"_Wow!" Laura said. _

"_Amazing!" Sarah echoed _

"_This is better than mum described!" Shinae gushed _

"_Yay!" Nikole screeched, and she jumped up and down, and the boat rocked dangerously. _

_The boats all nudged the shore, and everyone clambered out of the boats, and followed the teacher lady up the grassy slope to the massive oak doors that closed out the classroom. After going through the orientation instructions from professor McGonagall, the group entered the Great Hall to be sorted. _

"_Burke, Nikole!" McGonagall shouted, and after a hand-squeeze from Shinae, she tip-toed forward nervously, and put on the hat. _

"_Well, well. Slytherin ancestry, very strong Slytherin connections, you'd make a good Ravenclaw too." The sorting hat whispered, and Nikole thought nervously to herself. _Slytherin please_! "Well then. SLYTHERIN!" the Hat shouted the last word to the hall, and Nikole eagerly rushed to the Slytherin table, which was clapping loudly. Further down the list, McGonagall shouted out, _

"_Daemon, Shinae!" and Shinae ambled forward. _

"_SLYTHERIN!" the hat shouted within seconds, and Nikole whooped, and Shinae squealed before running down to her best friend. _

"_Neil, Laura!" was further down the list. Laura looked pale and like she was about to vomit as she walked forward and placed the worn looking black wizards hat on her head and she closed her eyes. Shinae pointed out that Laura had crossed her fingers in her lap._

"_HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat shouted, and Laura groaned. Nikole and Shinae giggled at Laura's misfortune, as she trudged towards the table two tables over from them. Laura looked back at Sarah with a sad smile, then at Nikole and Shinae, her face falling when she saw them laughing. _

" _Watts, Sarah!" was third to last on the list, and she walked forward nervously, placing the hat on her tidy brown hair. _

"_SLYTHERIN!" it shouted after a few minutes, and Nikole and Shinae shouted out in excitement, hugging their new house-mate, and giving Laura looks of sympathy. _

_Through the feast, they introduced themselves to several people in their house. Most of them looked curiously at the three girls as they chatted about muggle things such as music and television. They got a few glares from older students, who were obviously very stuck up about their bloodline. Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini were incredible looking second years, Millicent Bulstrode and Pansy Parkinson were also second years and were really friendly. People in her year included Patrick Parkinson, Pansy's younger brother, and Theodore Nott (I know he's actually in the same year as Draco and the trio, but bear with me right?)Then later on they met Max Avery and Lillia Yaxley. Lillia was sharing their dorm. _

"_So, Shi, What class are you looking forward to most?" Nikole asked her best friend, who rolled her hazel eyes at her. Shinae hated classes, and hated school in general. Nikole didn't mind school, as she was quite bright. _

"_Classes? Charms, and Transfiguration mostly, what about you?" Shinae said, helping herself to dessert, her plate filling with her favourite dessert, treacle tart. _

"_Defence Against the Dark Arts, for sure. Sarah?" Nikole replied, who was picking at a piece of chocolate gateau. Nikole had finished reading her Defence Against the Dark Arts text book on the train, and had already read most of her other textbooks, as well as the extra ones she had gotten on Defence. _

"_Potions." Sarah stated, eating treacle tart also. Sarah enjoyed muggle Chemistry and muggle cooking, so the two other girls could have guessed Sarah's answer. _

"_Bit of a bummer that Laura got put in Hufflepuff isn't it?" Shinae said, and she grinned at Nikole, who was shaking her head. _

"_It was kind of obvious she'd end up there, they're all a bunch of losers." Nikole said, and the two girls giggled, while Sarah hid her smile, before gently chastising them. _

_The common room was amazing. It was under the lake, which filled the common room with a greenish light. Seats surrounded tables all around the room, black leather couches were all over the place, and there were two enormous fireplaces at either end of the room, both crackling and filling the common room with some much need warmth. Nikole could tell that in the winter she would need to wear several layers in the common room, as it would get really cold. Opposite the door way were two large spiral staircases leading to the dormitories. The dormitories had four-poster beds, decorated with green and silver linens and hangings, and their trunks were already up there at the foot of their beds. _

_Instead of going to straight to bed, the five girls all sat on their beds in their pyjamas, and talked, letting Lillia get to know the other three girls. There were only four of them, which was weird because there were five beds, and every other house had five girls and five boys in each year. They just assumed that someone had pulled out or preferred to go to another school. _

_They became exhausted at midnight, and slowly each one of them succumbed to sleep, Shinae being the last one to fall asleep. All four of the girls were eager for their classes to start the next day, they were eager to learn magic and spells._


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two: Smoke in the Bathroom **_

_Five years had passed, and two girls stood in the first floor bathroom that was the frequent hangout of the ghost named Moaning Myrtle. The two of them were rolling cigarettes and talking speedily, as if they only had a short time to talk about as much as possible. _

"_Shi, Lighter please darling" Nikole said to the other girl, flicking her permanently straightened newly black hair over her shoulder, and grabbing the lighter from her friend so she could light her cigarette. _

"_Cheers baby" the other black haired girl said, taking back her lighter, and using it to light her freshly rolled smoke. _

"_What are we supposed to be in?" Nikole muttered as she inhaled, this was a usual occurrence, the once studious girls now spent their class time in . _

"_Arithimancy." Was the reply, and Nikole nodded. _

"_I'm surprised, in our three years of wagging at least one class a day, we've never been caught, and we've always passed our exams. What did you get on your O. again? 10 O.? Same as me." Nikole said, shrugging. Shinae nodded, and flicked ash off the end of her smoke with a smile. _

"_But Sarah always comes up with good excuses for us" Shinae said, and Nikole nodded again. Sarah, how ever much she disapproved of their rule breaking, made up excuses to tell the professors so that Nikole and Shinae wouldn't get in trouble. _

"_So, how are things with Blaise?" Shinae continued, looking at Nikole mischievously and then laughing at her facial expression. _

"_He's to busy drooling over Sarah's innocent cleavage to notice me. I'm way hotter than her!" Nikole wailed, and took another puff of her smoke. Shinae giggled again. There was no way Sarah and Blaise would get together. For one, she didn't drink or smoke like he did, and she totally disapproved of it, and two, she didn't date very much at all._

"_I know Nik. Move on. Draco Malfoy is way hotter!" Shinae said. Shinae had sported a small crush on the Slytherin Prince for almost a year now, and had recently told her best friend of a little meeting on the train, where he had actually been looking for her to have a conversation with. _

_A couple more girls entered then, and the two girls already in there smiled at the newcomers, who were fellow Slytherins, though they were a year older. _

"_Pansy! You owe me a smoke!" Shinae reminded the seventh year Slytherin, who extracted a tailor-made cigarette from her school skirt pocket, and handed it to the sixth year. All of the girls in the bathroom had shortened their uniform skirts to above the knee, a good three inches shorter than the knee length requirement. Their blouses were tight, and they each wore a long black singlet under the blouse that bunched around their hips. They wore knee high socks and ankle boots, except for Millicent, who wore knee high black leather boots._

"_Millicent!" Nikole shouted, and she hugged the girl standing behind Pansy, and then hugged Pansy. The girls were welcomed in quickly, and the door shut before the smell of smoke could linger in the hallway and revealed their presence in the out of order bathroom. _

"_Blaise Zabini is a better fuck than Draco" Pansy said, initiating that she had heard the end of Nikole and Shinae's conversation. Millicent grinned widely at Pansy, who shrugged off the fact. _

"_You'd know, right Pansy?" Nikole commented, and the three others laughed. Pansy was known throughout the school for her sexual activity, as apart from her pug nose she was rather pretty, with shiny black hair and a figure to die for. Nikole had only become friends with Pansy and Millicent in the last year, after she had broken friends with Ginny Weasley, Romilda Vane and Demelza Robins, who were all Gryffindors. _

"_Very True" Millicent nodded, poking her tongue out at her best friend and fellow Seventh year. _

"_What class are you two supposed to be in?" Shinae asked the older girls, who had just shrugged their school satchels off their shoulders and onto the ground, before sitting up on the sinks, which had been applied with cushioning charms at the start of the year by the girls. _

"_Herbology" they muttered at the same time, and the other two girls nodded, Herbology was the girls' least favourite subject purely because of the fact that they got soil under their nails and could break them so easily right after a perfect manicure. _

"_Arithimancy" they replied before Pansy and Millicent could ask. All was silent while the girls all lit up cigarettes, Shinae and Nikole on their second. The door opened, and all of the girls tucked their burning cigarettes behind their backs, not knowing who could be coming in here at this time of the period. _

"_It's only me girls!" someone called, and they all recognised the voice and pulled their smokes back out and resumed smoking. _

"_Hi Lillia!" Shinae called out to her dorm mate, Lillia Yaxley, who had also come in for a smoke. _

"_I really couldn't be bothered with Ancient Runes" she said, and the other's nodded in pity. Nikole and Shinae hadn't taken the subject, but they'd heard complaining from Lillia for the last couple of years._

"_Lighter anyone?" she said, after searching her pockets for her own one. Three of the girls pulled out their lighters, and Lillia took Shinae's which was closer. _

"_Thanks darling" Lillia said to Shinae, handing her back the lighter and inhaling deeply on her smoke. _

"_So, where's the party at tonight? Room of Requirement again?" Pansy asked, and the other girls all nodded. _

"_I managed to get 100 Galleons worth of Firewhisky. Nik got some pot off her cousin. We even managed to get muggle music. Everyone loves muggle music, especially Rock and Country." Shinae said, and all of the girls nodded in agreement. _

"_Good pot this time? The stuff Lillia got was shit!" Millicent said, and Pansy shrugged half-heartedly, not wanting to hurt her friend's feelings. _

"_I didn't know it was laced!" Lillia exclaimed, and Millicent looked away guiltily and the other girls laughed quietly. _

"_I must get Mother to send me my Faith Hill and Martina McBride CDs, I can't believe I left it home without my country CD collection" Nikole said, taking a long drag on her smoke and shaking her head in disgust with herself._

"_Oh, make sure you get Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn too!" Shinae reminded Nikole excitedly and the other girls muttered in agreement. _

"_My mum got me an AC/DC DVD for my birthday, its brilliant!" Lillia said, and Nikole squeaked. _

"_AC/DC! Oh my god! I love them!" Nikole said her voice high. _

"_Excuse me girls, Sorry to break up the little party, but you should all be in class!" a mans stern voice was behind them, and all of the girls spun around, smokes still in their hands. _

"_Ah. So sorry Headmaster" Pansy said, and Millicent, Shinae, Nikole, and Lillia nodded. _

"_Pure bloods, with a fetish for muggle music?" he said, sounding confused. _

"_Yeah" the girls all muttered, blushing. _

"_What do you guys think of Bon Jovi?" he asked, smirking. _

"_Oh My God! Don't you just love them! They're legendary!" Shinae exclaimed, and the girls agreed slightly. Bon Jovi was Shinae's favourite band, but the other girls thought they were alright. _

"_Indeed. Back to class, please girls." Snape said, and he smirked again, as all the girls rushed past him, reeking of smoke. _

_That night, was a Thursday, and even though there was a full day of classes tomorrow, the girls were still going to have their party, as usual. Shinae, Millicent, Nikole, Pansy and Lillia were in the Room of Requirement, smokes in one hand and a bottle of Firewhisky in the other. All the hundred or so bottles had Refilling charms on them, and shot glasses were stacked up on a table in the corner. Couches had lined the room, like they always did at the girls' parties. The girls themselves were all in mini-skirts and tank tops. _

_People were starting to come in now. Some of the first people to come were Draco, Blaise, Theodore, Max and Patrick. All of them had little square packages of smokes in their pockets. The guys were in their muggle best also, baggy jeans and tops. Draco was wearing a black logo hoody and Blaise looked damn fine. Nikole was practically drooling onto the floor. He had on a black singlet, that looked tight and emphasized his Quidditch body, and an open white shirt patterned with black skulls on the collar. _

"_Hey Blaise" Nikole said nervously, and Shinae muffled her giggles. _

"_Hey, Nikole?" he said, and she nodded. He remembered her name! _

"_Shinae" Draco stated, and she smiled at him in a flirty way. _

"_Draco" she stated in the same tone, and Millicent and Nikole rolled their eyes at each other. _

"_Are your groupies coming Nikole?" Draco asked, and the boys laughed _

"_Groupies?" Nikole asked, raising her eyebrows at the blonde boy. _

"_That goody-two-shoes chick in our house and that ugly Hufflepuff" he said, and Shinae and Nikole laughed. _

"_Sarah and Laura? How are they my groupies?" Nikole asked, slightly confused _

"_They like worship you." he replied, and looked her up and down. Nikole shook her head at him, offended for calling her friends groupies. Shinae glared at her as if to say 'He's mine!' and Nikole gave her the slightest nod. _

"_So, what music ya got?" Blaise asked and Nikole lead them over to the muggle music player in the corner, which had been magically amplified. _

"_Bon Jovi! AC/DC! Guns N' Roses! Mean!" he said enthusiastically, and Nikole nodded. _

_In less than an hour, the music was blaring loudly, and everyone was either wasted, stoned, or both. People were grinding up against one another to the music, and cigarettes and empty bottles littered the ground. Nikole was stuck between Draco and Blaise, with Shinae on Draco's other side as the stood on a table, she felt Draco lean forward to start kissing her neck, but she brushed him off delicately before running her hands all over Blaise's chest to show both boys of her intentions. She could hear Shinae giggling as she skulled back more fire whiskey. Blaise lit a cigarette and offered it to Nikole, who took it and watched him light another with his wand. Nikole didn't even realise that Draco was no longer pressing his hard muscular body against her back, he and Shinae were sitting on a couch, drinks and cigarettes in hands, talking. Shinae looked frustrated, and Draco looked somewhat apologetic for what he was telling her. _

"_Hey you" Blaise said, turning around and placing his hands on her waist and pulling her as close as possible. She smiled at him, before looking back over to the couch, where Draco was now sitting alone. _

"_I'll be right back" Nikole said, and she turned to move out of his arms. He held her there, leaning in for a chaste kiss before letting her go. _

"_Please rush" he said with his alluring slur, and she smiled widely. Inside, though she was confused, she'd had a crush on Blaise for months, and now that he wanted her too, she couldn't think of anything but Draco's apologetic face as he looked at Shinae, and now Shinae had disappeared. Nikole leaped off the table, stumbling as she hit the ground, and she dodged through people to get to Draco. _

"_Draco? What'd you say to her?" Nikole asked him, sitting next to him and looking up at him, where she could see a hint of a tear in his eyes. _

"_I told her that I didn't want a relationship with her. I know I should've told her when she was sober, but she was trying to kiss me, then she wanted to know why I wasn't kissing back. I couldn't. I told her that I like someone else" He sniffed, and she honestly thought she was going to cry. _

"_Where'd she go?" Nikole asked, and Draco looked over towards the door out to the seventh floor corridor. _

"_Pansy took her to her dormitory" Draco said, and stood up, leaving the half bottle of fire whiskey on the couch. "Would you like to accompany me back to the common room?" She nodded before thinking through the question. It wasn't until they were both walking down toward the dungeons that she realised what she was doing. She was glad that no-one had noticed them leaving together at the party, because Shinae would have been crushed. _

"_Do you wanna come up to my dorm and talk for a bit, I really don't want to sleep yet" He asked, and Nikole nodded as she sipped from the bottle of fire whiskey she had taken from the party before leaving. _

_They walked up to the seventh year boys dormitory and lay on Draco's bed, pulling the curtains before applying a silencing charm so they could talk without waking Crabbe and Goyle, who had come back from the party early after failing to score a girl to sleep with. _

_The two of them talked for hours, hearing Blaise slip back to the dormitory with a giggling girl, who with a peek from the curtain, was revealed to be some fifth year Slytherin who'd had a bit too much to drink. _

"_I can't believe I liked a guy who picked up a different girl as often as possible. I used to desperately want to be one of his many conquests, hoping that I'd be able to change his ways. I have no idea what the hell I was thinking." Nikole said in a whisper, forgetting that a silencing charm was applied. _

"_Thank heavens that tonight he decided to use a silencing charm. You deserve more than that, Nik. A hell of a lot more." Draco said, smiling when she leaned her head against his shoulder. _

"_Did you tell Shi who you liked?" She asked quietly, feeling him run her fingers through her hair. _

"_I couldn't tell her, it would hurt her to much to know that I like one of her friends, and the girl I like would never date me, she'd be scared of betraying her best friend." He whispered into her hair, sending shivers down her spine. She looked up at him, confused. _

"_Lillia?" She asked and Draco laughed softly, his mouth never moving away from her ear, sending more shivers down her spine and his hot breath tickled her ear. _

"_No, not Lillia. And it's not Sarah, Laura, Millicent, Daphne or Pansy. That only leaves one person, I think" He said and she smiled to herself and looked up at him. _

"_Me?" she asked and he kissed her nose before grinning down at her and nodding. "But why?" she asked, and he shook his head. _

"_Your extremely modest you know. You're very pretty, and you never fail to make me laugh, and I love your laugh, so I try constantly to make you laugh, though my attempts at humour often seem to confuse you. You're not skinny, like the rest of your friends, you have curves, and I like a little something to hold onto. I think, most of all, you don't avoid me like a leper just because I've got the Mark. Not many people know about it, and when you spotted it, you didn't care, and you don't care about what people think of yourself and others, you try to make your own judgements of people." He said quickly, his pale cheeks burning scarlet. She smiled at him, looking surprised. _

"_You really think I'm all of those things?" she asked, and he nodded. _

"_Honestly, you're all that and more. Believe me; I've watched you for a long time. I am rather observant, I bet you haven't noticed that Patrick Parkinson's had his eye on Lillia for a long time, and Theodore's been trying all term to get Laura to notice him, and both Crabbe and Goyle adore Shinae, though she's way to good for them, and Max has his eye on her as well. Blaise, though would be the biggest surprise, he only brings those girls here with him hoping that Sarah will get jealous. When he asked her to Hogsmeade in third year and she said no, he's been crushed ever since." Draco listed, and Nikole watched him with wide eyes. _

"_Wow. I would've never guessed. But that does make my theory right." Nikole said dreamily, and he looked at her, waiting for an explanation. _

"_Oh, once I've got an impressive name for it I'll tell you. It wouldn't be as amazing if I didn't have an equally amazing name for it." He laughed at her passion. She lay sleepily on his shoulder as he talked quietly about other things he had observed, like Millicent's crush on Goyle, the better looking of Draco's two revolting henchmen. Just as he was about to mention an invitation to his manor over Christmas he realised she had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He slid down the bed, careful not to wake her up, and he smiled and kissed her forehead, pulling her close and falling asleep himself. _

_Nikole awoke at day break, and felt a huge guilt at seeing herself in Draco's arms. He was awake, and had been watching her sleep. _

"_Can we not tell Shinae about this? I hate sneaking around behind her back, but I don't want to hurt her." Nikole said urgently, swigging from the bottle of firewhisky on the nightstand to wash away her morning breath. _

"_Depends if we could hang out later" he said with a smile as he watched her drink from the bottle. It was before seven, and she was already drinking. _

"_I would like that. And don't look at me like that, I have Dark Arts first" she said, and he grimaced in sympathy. _

"_Maybe we could hang out in the Room of Requirement later, and do a little study." He said with a smirk, and she laughed. _

"_I know what you're kind of study is. I'll meet you there right after last class." She grinned and kissed his cheek, leaning into him when he pulled her down to peck her lips. _

"_I'll just study your face. That'd be enough to last forever" He said, and she laughed again. _

"_Smooth. I might see you at breakfast" She said, and she vanished from the room quickly, turning to wink at him at the doorway. She found Shinae asleep on one of the common room couches, Max Avery lying on the floor next to her, holding her hand. Nikole shook Shinae softly, and smiled brightly, despite the slight hangover when her best friend opened her eyes. _

"_Time for breakfast!" she said eagerly, and Shinae grinned. The first thought of Nikole's every day was food. She looked at the clock on the wall, and saw that breakfast would start in 10 minutes. _

"_Let's go get changed and then head down. Pansy's got some hangover potion, but it won't be ready until break" Shinae replied, and the two girls headed out of the room, and headed down to their dungeon common room. Sarah was in their room, and she was getting dressed. _

"_Fudge, you guys look stuffed" she commented, looking at her friends with concern. Sarah, as a Christian, refused to swear, and 'Fudge' was one of her replacement words. _

"_Thanks. We love you too" Nikole replied groggily, and started to pull new robes out of her trunk. _

"_Sarah, can you wait for us, we'll walk to breakfast with you." Shinae said, as she stumbled across to her trunk._

"_So where did you two end up last night? Or, shall I ask you whose bed did you end up in?" Sarah said with a smirk, and Nikole blushed brightly. _

"_I slept on a couch in the common room" Shinae said quickly as she dressed in her school uniform, failing to mention that Max had kept her company. _

"_I actually ended up in the grounds, how that happened I have no idea. I remember walking with a Ravenclaw boy though, but his hands got a little to frisky" Nikole said with a laugh, and Shinae joined her. Sarah looked at Nikole suspiciously. _

_A minute later, they were ready, Nikole and Shinae looking a little worse for wear. Laura was already at the Hufflepuff table when they arrived and she rushed over to the Slytherin one to sit with her best friends. She gave Sarah a tiny hug, and shoved Nikole, one of her normal morning customs. _

"_What the fuck did you do that for?" Nikole shouted, as she tried to sit back up. Nearly every eye in the hall was on them, including the teachers, but slowly every eye left her. Laura glared at Nikole and the group sat down. Nikole and Shinae both filled their plates with their favourite hangover breakfasts, Shinae's dry toast, and Nikole's bacon, eggs, and toast and began eating. Nikole spotted Draco down the table, only to see that he was looking right back at her. She winked at him, and he flashed his trademark smirk at her. Laura had been watching the exchange, and raised her eyebrows at her friend, who shrugged. _

"_Do you reckon we've got time to have a smoke before Dark Arts?" Shinae mumbled into her toast and Nikole shrugged. _

"_Sarah?" Nikole asked to see if they had time. None of the girls had a watch, but Nikole and Shinae just assumed that Sarah would know the time._

"_Smoking kills" was all she said, shaking her head. _

"_Excuse me, it's not Smoking that kills, it's the diseases _in_ smoking that kill." Shinae quipped, and Nikole stood up._

"_We should have time, lets go" Nikole said, and after waiting for Shinae to delicately stand up, the two headed off to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, leaving the goody-good Slytherin to shake her head in disgust, alongside her best friend._


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: Bad Medicine, A Friendship Check, and a few pranks for good measure **_

"_Hogsmeade weekend: 8th November. That's three weeks away" Shinae read off the notice board in the Slytherin common room. She looked at Nikole with a mischievous grin. _

"_Got a good idea for a prank Shi?" Nikole asked, grinning mischievously at Shinae. Shinae grinned back and nodded, and the girl behind them shook her head. _

"_Not going to tell me?" she said, and the other two girls' eyes went straight to the prefect badge on her robes that was reflecting the green light cast over the room by the lake water above them. _

"_Nah" they both answered at the same time, and then they smiled at each other. They linked arms, and followed by Sarah, they headed up to breakfast cheerily, and Nikole wondered what Shinae had planned. Shinae assured Sarah that her idea wouldn't ruin the Hogsmeade trip just that they would be able to pick up supplies while in the wizarding village. Sarah seemed satisfied with that, and didn't see the sly wink that Shinae gave Nikole._

"_Another day another smoke" Nikole said, buttering a blueberry muffin as Laura joined them at the Slytherin table five minutes later. _

"_You guys are killing me" Sarah said shooting glares at both Nikole and Shinae, before grabbing a muffin from the pile. _

"_Smoking doesn't kill wizarding people" Nikole replied defensively, grinning like she'd made the most obvious statement in the world_

"_Well smoking kills muggles and I'm a half blood" Sarah said glaring at Nikole. No-one usually argued with Sarah, who was the smartest out of the four. _

"_So you're half immune so it will take it longer to kill you" Shinae muttered, grinning. Laura gave Shinae a virtual high-five out of Sarah's vision. _

"_It will still kill me" Sarah replied quickly with a very Slytherin-like smirk. She was right, as always, but Nikole and Shinae weren't going to give it up._

"_You'll get over it" Shinae said and Nikole muttered to her "goody-good" and Sarah slapped her across the face and smiled triumphantly. _

"_I've wanted to do that for so long" Sarah exclaimed, and Nikole, watching as everyone laughed, rubbed her cheek absently as she giggled along with her friends. _

"_Come on, Dark Arts starts in ten, and I've got a good prank." Nikole said, and the foursome, grinning mischievously, rushed out of the hall. _

"_Professor Carrow?" Sarah asked innocently and winking at Nikole behind the Death Eater professor. _

"_Yes, Miss Watts?" he asked, standing over her, with his back to the rest of the group. Nikole carefully extracted her wand, her eyes glued to Sarah. _

"_I was just wondering, is there some kind of potion that can prevent the Cruciatius Curse being effective?" Sarah said, and consulted her book before continuing. "It says in here that there are ways to counter-attack against the Cruciatius, and potions are usually easier to have beforehand than a spell." Nikole grinned at Shinae. Sarah's reputation as a teachers pet was very crucial in putting their pranks into practise. Nikole raised her wand and muttered an incantation, almost silently, and even Shinae couldn't hear her. Quirky music started playing, and most people looked around in surprise, including the pranksters, keeping up the act they had perfected over the last few years of their more serious pranks. _

Sometimes things are really hairy  
Sneaking up when you are wary  
Big old eyes all red and glary  
Creatures in the dark are scary  
Shh  
_Giggles were issuing from many of the students, and even Sarah had to struggle to keep her prefect image, by not laughing herself. Shinae was singing along quietly, and Nikole and Laura were pulling faces at her. If she was spotted by Professor Carrow, then they'd all be in trouble.  
_Beneath the bed the ghosts are ooky  
Skeletons' bones are kooky  
Your teddy bear's name is Pooky  
Late at night he gets spooky  
BOO!

_On the word 'Pooky' the remaining of the class who still had straight faces cracked up. Professor Carrow was glaring around, looking for a culprit. He was mouthing words to himself, that looked oddly like 'Dumbledore's Army' and Shinae and Nikole shared an excited look. If Professor Carrow suspected Dumbledore's Army, the Gryffindor gang, then they were in the clear.  
_Dippity dee  
It's only me  
Boopity boo  
I scared you  
Flick on the light there's nothing there  
Everything vanished in the air

Close your eyes when you are sleeping  
Centipedes and spiders creeping  
Shadows on the walls come seeking  
In the dark you are freaking  
BOO!  
_Someone fell out of their chair, but you couldn't tell who it was they were laughing so hard. This made everyone else laugh harder, and two students ran out of the room.  
_Dippity dee  
It's only me  
Boopity boo  
I scared you  
Flick on the light there's nothing there  
Everything vanished in the air  
_Laura was smacking her hand on the desk, as she sung along, only knowing the words from the numerous times the other three had burst into that song while in the library, Room of Requirement or out by the lake. Nikole and Shinae were humming along, and Sarah was singing softly as she pretended to be writing something down on a piece of parchment.  
_Close your eyes  
Rest your head  
Time to go to  
Shh  
BOO!

Dippity dee  
It's only me  
Boopity boo  
I scared you  
Flick on the light there's nothing there  
Everything vanished in the air  
_The music was slowing, most people guessed the song was coming to an end, even though they were laughing so much. If only they knew what was going to happen next. The four girls who did happen to know what was about to happen, shared an excited look, and Sarah got out her wand, and performed a non-verbal _muffliato _that covered the four of them, and was completely unnoticeable.  
_Flick on the light there's nothing there  
Everything vanished in the air  
BOO!

_Everyone laughed. Nobody could stop. Then the music started up again, and a few people groaned, the _muffliato_ charm blocked out the music, which satisfied them greatly. A few people still found the situation extremely humorous. _

_Later that day, during last class, the music was still playing over and over in the Defence against the Dark Arts classroom, either none of the teachers could remove it, or some just didn't want to. The last Dark Arts class for the day, a group of fifth year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had been taken to another class for the afternoon, Professor Carrow had eventually got so irritated with it she had performed a Cruciatius on an unsuspecting, but highly amused third year. That night, in the Great Hall for dinner, Hogwarts favourite mischievous foursome since the Marauders, were eating dinner, and thinking about their next prank. _

"_We could do another cell phone trick" Laura said, sitting at the Slytherin table with the other three. _

"_Oh, that was so last year" Shinae and Nikole said together, and Sarah nodded, as they remembered one of their favourite pranks that they had done last year. _

_**Flashback:**_

_The Great Hall was packed for dinner. The four girls were chatting animatedly, each with the grin and the glittering eyes that many of their friends had come to notice just before a prank occurred. _

"_Have you done our Potions essay yet?" Nikole asked Sarah and Laura. _

"_Yeah, we did it in the library this afternoon. No copying!" Laura said, and Shinae and Nikole groaned. That of course, was exactly what they were expecting, a beep interrupted their conversation, and loud music was blaring from Shinae's bag. _

"The hotel bar hangover

Whiskey's gone dry  
the barkeeper's wig's crooked  
and she's giving me the eye  
I might have said yeah  
but I laughed so hard I think I died_" _

_It was Bed of Roses, one of Shinae's favourite songs, by Bon Jovi. Many of the surrounding girls sung along, Snape was smirking from his seat in the middle of the Staff Table, and Shinae riffled through her bag, looking for the little phone. _

"_Don't worry, it's mine!" she announced, as every eye in the Hall was on her. _

"_Hi Darling! Now's not a good time, can I ring you back later? Bye!" she said into the cell phone, and people were looking around in wonder. Lots of half and pure blood wizards had never heard of cell phones and were utterly confused as to why she would be talking to a little box. _

_**: End Flashback**_

_They all smiled at each other reminiscently. They couldn't come up with a prank that was original, and this pissed them off immensely. . _

"_Gnomes!" Nikole announced. Nikole loved the little muggle gnomes that looked like Santa Claus'. _

"_What about them?" Shinae said, and both Laura and Sarah looked expectantly at Nikole. _

"_Well listen. It'll take a month or so to get sorted but….." _

_Shinae had taken Sarah to the Hospital Wing. They had had an accident in Dark Arts, when Sarah had been hit by a _Sectumsempra _curse while she practised duelling against Demelza Robins. Professor Carrow had dismissed the class early, mumbling about the 'Stupid Paperwork'. Nikole had wandered had gone for a cigarette with Lillia, and eventually decided on going to the library, where she knew Laura was. Nikole wanted to find a spell to conjure weed so she didn't have to pay for it, while Laura was doing her homework. _

"_Your love is like Bad Medicine, Bad Medicine is what I need, whoa! Shake it up, just like bad medicine; there isn't a doctor that can cure my disease. Bad… Bad… Medicine" Nikole sung as she searched through the Library for her blonde friend. Laura was sitting at a table, facing away from the doorway. _

"_Hi Nik" She said as she wrote her name at the bottom of her Potions Essay. _

"_How'd you know it was me?" Nikole asked offended. _

"_Who else would sing Bon Jovi that loudly and that out-of-tune in a library?" Laura asked, and Nikole nodded. With books to cover their conversation, Laura looked at Nikole. _

"_We need to talk Nik" Laura looked entirely serious as she said this. _

"_Yeah, about our next prank right?" Nikole replied, grinning at the prank idea with gnomes she had been planning for the last week._

"_No, about our friendship. We always fight. It's not fair on Sarah and Shinae" Laura said, looking at her hands, which were crossed in front of her. _

"_I know, but the thing is, you just rub me the wrong way. We have a personality clash." Nikole said, also serious now, forgetting the prank for the moment. _

"_Yeah, but can't we grow up and realise that we need to understand that it's not all about ourselves, but the others around us, and that with the Dark times we're in at the moment we need to keep our friends, and to keep them in check. I need to know that I can trust you with my life." Laura said looking up at Nikole who nodded sombrely. _

"_And remember last year, when you got in that massive fight with the Gryffindors that you were really close with, Demelza Robins, Romilda Vane and Ginny Weasley, right? And when you had that massive falling out with them, who stuck up for you when they cornered you in the hallway? Me. Because I knew that the one thing that you need right then was someone who had your back." Laura said her voice so frightfully honest it was kind of scary. _

"_And when you said you wanted to try to loose weight, I was there to keep you going when you wanted to give up, even though you only hexed me" Nikole could only nod again as Laura continued talking, sure they were far from perfect, but had she really been that nasty to Laura? _

"_I'm sorry Laura. I never really realised. You know I'm a bitch; I only ever look out for myself, Shi and Sarah. I never really thought. I just. I don't know. You're just so easy to pick on. Sure Sarah's always easy to tease, but I really hate being slapped, and you just take it. I'm really sorry Laura, I'll try harder, I promise." Nikole looked up at Laura with tears forming in her blue eyes _

"_I remember my little exercise regime. Didn't help much, did it?" Nikole laughed, patting her stomach, which stuck out through her blouse slightly. These girls weren't perfect. Laura was tall and obnoxious, Sarah was the sweet little goody-good, who was very pretty, Shinae was the almost-anorexic super-skinny chick, and Nikole was the podgy, loud mouth. They were extremely sociable though, and people were gradually drawn to the extroverted foursome, even though they weren't popular or slutty, and were still cool and happy with their popularity status. They were over it. Who wanted to be the over-slutty super-rich try hard girls who would open their legs just for the status of it? Shinae, Nikole, Laura and Sarah were more than happy doing their own thing. They were the kind of girls that didn't give a rats shit about what was hot and what wasn't. Sure, they got on the wrong side of people very easily, but they always ended up being loyal to each other, like an unwritten code between the inseparable foursome. Laura had been talking while Nikole was day dreaming. _

"_Nikole!" Laura was nudging her friend. _

"_Oh. Sorry, what were you saying?" Nikole replied, blushing somewhat. _

"_Just that you don't stand a ghost of a chance." Laura said, and the twosome laughed. One of their favourite inside jokes was that one and the other was 'If you're a ghost, then I'm straight!' _

"_So, do you think we should go see Sarah?" Nikole asked, and the two girls shared a glance, in which they silently agreed, and linked arms and walked up to the Hospital Wing. Things were better between them. Sarah was propped up in bed, the gash in her cheek healed, but a scar remained. She grinned when she saw her two friends, and then looked confused. _

"_Why on earth are you linked arms?" she asked, her face blank. _

"_Because we're friends." Laura said, and Nikole nodded, and the two girls grinned at each other. Shinae looked speechless _

'_We had a talk. It's all good." Nikole added. _

"_What?" Shinae said when she'd regained her speech. _

"_Don't worry darling" Nikole replied, and went over to sit on the side of the bed. _

"_So how are you Sarah?" Laura said, stepping closer to her best friend in the bed in front of her. _

"_I'm okay. I'll have a massive scar on my cheek for a while, and I have to stay in overnight, so I'll have to miss out on classes tomorrow" she sounded disappointed, and Shinae and Nikole exchanged shocked looks. They'd never miss an opportunity to miss classes. _

"_So?" Shinae said, as Laura laughed at Nikole and Shinae's shocked faces. _

"_You two will have to bring me all of the homework." Sarah directed this last comment at the two girls sitting in the seat next to her bed. _

"_As if!" Nikole and Shinae exclaimed at the same time. Nikole was bored. The other three could tell. She was tapping her hands on the side of the bed in a vaguely familiar way. Shinae grinned in recognition and joined in. _

"_Lay your hands on me, Lay your hands on me, Lay your hands on me-eee!" The two sung, only slightly out of tune, glaring at Laura who snorted. _

"_Hey look, an Owl!" Sarah said, as she spotted a barn owl with deep blue eyes sitting on the windowsill, tapping its claws against the window pane. _

"_It's Grabble!" Laura said, as she went to untie the roll of parchment. "Read it out loud!" Nikole added, and Laura nodded. Grabble was Laura's mum's old Owl, that had been left to Laura's father after Laura's mum had died. Laura's dad, a muggle, used the owl to communicate with Laura while she was at Hogwarts. _

"_Dear Laura Darling, _

_I regret having to write this in a letter, but I think that I will not be able to see you this summer. I have terminal lung cancer, and the doctors have given me 3 or so more weeks to live. I am going to miss you darling, but there is one thing I want you to know before I pass. _

_I am not your real father. I will always consider you as my daughter, being the one who raised you mostly single-handedly since you were tiny. Your real father is a pure-blood, which is all your mother told me before she died. She was pregnant with you when we first got together, only about three weeks though. I am very sure that she never told me who he was, but surely you can find a way to figure it out. _

_I love you Laura, and I'll miss you darling. Be good, don't do anything I wouldn't do, and be careful. _

_Love, Dad." Laura finished reading and tears were streaming down her pale face. She hardy ever cried, and Nikole, who would normally tease her for crying, didn't know what to say. _

"_We're doing the father-finder potion in Potions next lesson, remember? Professor Slug horn told us last lesson. We'll figure out who he is and write to him. We'll sort it out, we always do." Sarah said softly, reaching out for Laura's hand. _

"_I know." Laura muttered, and she wiped her face with a tissue from the little table next to Sarah's bed. _

"_So when are the Gnomes getting here?" Laura asked, and Nikole grinned. _

"_Shinae and I sent off a note last week to the Weasley Twins to see if they could go into muggle London and get us some Gnomes. They wrote back to say they'd send them as soon as they can, they can't really be seen with muggle purchases down Diagon Alley." Nikole said, and Laura nodded in agreement. _

"_I've found a few handy spells that will do what we need them to do, and there's only a few more that I need, then I have to combine them into one incantation each." Sarah said, and Nikole grinned. _

"_This is surely one of the best pranks ever!" Shinae exclaimed and the other three agreed. _

"_Okay, well. We better head down to the Great Hall for dinner. We'll come and see you tomorrow to give you all your homework" Nikole laughed as Laura said it, and after delicate hugs for Sarah, the threesome left the Hospital Wing. _

_Two days later, Potions was first period that Wednesday. Sarah had been released from the Hospital the day after she ended up in there, and had finished her homework that night, and took three hours teasing from Nikole and Shinae as punishment. Sarah had come back to find the dormitory she shared with Nikole, Shinae, and Lillia to be absolutely destroyed, bottles of muggle alcoholic beverages, and cigarette buts all over. An ashtray had spilt over Sarah's emerald bedspread, and what Sarah thought looked like bourbon was all over the floor. Sarah had used a few Vanishing Spells and a nice Cleaning Charm to make the room the way she liked it. Spotless. _

_N.E.W.T Potions had sixth years form all four houses in it. Laura, Shinae, Sarah and Nikole all shared a table, and unpacked their Potion kits and Cauldrons. _

"_Okay Class. Today we are making the 'Father-Finding' Potion, which used to be used in wizarding Orphanages during wars. The instructions are on page 127 of Advanced Potion Making, you have the rest of the period. Start" Professor Slughorn sat back in his chair, relaxing. _

"_What should we put in it to use as 'DNA'?" Shinae asked as they finished the potion, and Nikole shrugged. _

"_Hair?" Nikole suggested, tugging at a strand of black hair. _

"_Then it'll look off centre!" exclaimed Shinae, and Nikole nodded. "Nails?" _

"_And ruin my manicure? Uh-Nah!" Nikole looked at her perfectly manicured and black-polished nails. "And not toenails, I've got a pedicure." _

_Shinae laughed. "What about spit?" she suggested, shuddering. _

"_Best chance we got I think" Nikole said and Shinae shrugged. _

"_Okay, One….Two….Three…Spit!" They counted down together, and spat into their cauldrons. _

"_Now three stirs counter-clockwise" Shinae consulted the book. On the third stir, a ghostly figure rose from the cauldrons, and each of the girls smiled at the spirits. _

"_That's my dad!" they said together, and slapped high-fives. _

"_Good Girls! Ten points each to Slytherin!" Slughorn announced, not even moving from his chair. _

_Shinae, Sarah and Nikole, having completed their potions, turned their attention to Laura, who was adding a small part of her hair to her solution. She stirred it and a figure rose up. Shinae and Nikole could sense a certain familiarity about him. _

"_It's Lucius Malfoy!" exclaimed Sarah softly, and Shinae nodded. _

"_Only Draco's Dad would look like that" Nikole quipped, and Shinae elbowed her. _

"_We've got a free period now." Nikole announced as they packed up their gear. _

"_We should head somewhere and write a letter to Mr Malfoy." Sarah said, and Laura nodded. _

Mr Malfoy.

My name is Laura Neil. I'm sixteen, and I'm a sixth year Hufflepuff at Hogwarts. You might remember my mother, Marilla Neil. I'm not quite sure how to write this next bit.

We did the 'Father Finding Potion' in my N.E.W.T Potions class, and you came out as my father.

I hope to hear from you.

Yours truly,

Laura Neil.

"_It'll do. It's polite, and it's to the point. If he wants to reply, he will." Sarah reassured her best friend as the four friends walked up to the Owlery. _

"_I'm nervous" Laura said softly as she attached the letter to her owl, Bakura. _

"_I would be too Laura. This is something you've got to do." Nikole put her hand on Laura's shoulder. _

"_You might even get a reply tomorrow" Shinae said softly, staring out the window watching Bakura fly into the distance. _

"_Bakura's a fast flyer." Laura commented, smiling softly. "He might never reply" she added, frowning._

"_Well then he's just an asshole" Shinae said, only to be elbowed in the ribs by Sarah and told to mind her language._

_The next morning at Breakfast, Laura sat alone at the Hufflepuff table since her friends hadn't arrived yet, so she could sit with them. Professor Snape was walking up the nearly empty hall between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. _

"_Miss Malfoy" he said softly, as he stood behind her. Luckily nobody heard him. Laura stood up, shocked and turned around to look at the bat-like Headmaster. _

"_Come" he said and he stalked out of the Hall, into the Entrance Hall. _

"_I have been corresponding with Lucius Malfoy. He says that you're his illegitimate daughter. A man such as himself should only have children in the proud Slytherin House. House-elves are moving your things as we speak. The password to the common-room is Dark. Good day Miss Malfoy" Snape stalked back into the Great Hall, his cloak billowing out at the sides like wings. Laura walked quickly down to the dungeons, as she knew the way to the Slytherin common room, having walked her friends there a few times, to meet her friends and tell them the news. _

"_Dark." She said to the Dungeon wall, which split as soon as she announced the password. She grinned as she stepped into the green and silver room, and walked up the girl's dormitory staircase. _

"_Who's trunk is this? House-Elves just dropped it off" Shinae was saying. _

"_New student?" Nikole asked, her voice muffled. Laura opened the door. _

"_It's my trunk!" She exclaimed, and all four of the girls turned to the doorway. _

"_Laura!" Shinae, Nikole and Sarah shouted, as Sarah rushed forward to hug her friend. _

"_Mr Malfoy got in touch with Professor Snape. Malfoy perks!" Laura explained. _

"_Malfoy Perks?" Lillia asked, confused. _

"_Turns out Mr Malfoy's my father. I don't want anyone to know yet." Laura said, and the other four girls nodded. _

"_Come on, lets go to breakfast," Sarah said, and the four friends left Lilia behind to go to the Great Hall. _

_In the Great Hall, the post owls were just coming in. Owls of all different colours were coming down to various students. One owl, a handsome eagle owl, was still flying around looking for the recipient of the letter. It was the Malfoy Owl. Draco was trying to coax the owl down to him, but as Laura entered the Hall, the owl went straight to her. _

"_Excuse me, but Why is my owl bringing you a letter?" Draco asked the newest addition to the Slytherin House. _

"_Because it's got a letter for me, I'll explain later" Laura said simply, untying the parchment. _

"_Your Marila's kid, aren't you?" Draco asked quietly, and Laura looked up at him, shocked, and nodded slightly. _

"_I used some Weasley merchandise one night, and I heard my parents talking about it." Draco added, and Shinae grinned. Laura smiled up at her 'big half-brother' _

"_So how does it feel to be a big, bad, older half brother?" Shinae asked, and Draco punched her arm lightly while grinning at her. _

"_Quiet you" he said, and turned away from the group, smiling brightly at Nikole before going to sit with his thugs, Crabbe and Goyle. _

"_So now that Draco knows, it's not a big secret?" Nikole asked, sharing a look with Shinae. _

"_Guess not" Laura replied lightly. Nikole nodded at Shinae, who wrote a note on a bit of parchment and while Nikole read it over her shoulder, she muttered a few spells, wand pointed at the parchment. With a final nod from her best friend, Shinae said the activation spell. _

"_BJLA would like to introduce Slytherin House's newest member to Hogwarts. We give you, Miss Laura Malfoy!" A mysterious voice said, and an arrow rose up above Laura's head. Laura glared at the two giggling friends across from her. BJLA was a random acronym that Shinae had come up with to keep the announcement Anonymous. BJLA stands for Bon Jovi Lovers Anonymous. _

"_Read the letter!" Sarah nudged Laura, who slowly opened the roll of parchment. _

"Laura.

As you probably know, I got in touch with Professor Snape, and you are now in the Slytherin House, as an honourable pureblood such as my daughter should be.

I have to see you. I know that there is a Hogsmeade trip coming up. I will meet you outside the Three Broomsticks at noon.

I would also prefer if you told Draco. I would, but as you probably found, it isn't something easy to write in a letter. As for the school finding out, you can decide whether or not you want them to know, you'll find that teachers will respect you more as a Malfoy.

Lucius."

_Laura put the letter down after each of her friends had read it and looked expectantly at her friends, waiting for a comment. _

"_He seems like a nice guy, bit professional, but decent. Bit like my father really, aristocratic pureblood" Nikole said, and Laura smiled warmly at her._

"_Well, you could have guessed that already Nik. Like father like son" Shinae said, and Nikole rolled her eyes, knowing that she knew Draco a lot better that Shinae did, but she didn't tell her best friend that. _

"_Hate to see what Blaise's dad's like then" Sarah commented, and Nikole looked shocked, before giggling. _

"_Where would he go on the Love pentagon? Well, it'd be a hexagon, but still…" Nikole said, raising her eyebrows. _

"_Love pentagon? What on earth?" Sarah said, and Nikole smiled. _

"_I can't believe I never told you!" She pulled out a self-inking quill and a piece of parchment and drew a small diagram, a pentagon with a letter, either an 'S', 'D', 'N', 'B' or 'SC' at each point. "Basically, its Shinae likes Draco, who likes Nikole, who likes Blaise, who likes Sarah's Chest. I came up with at the start of the year." Shinae laughed. _

"_My Chest?!" Sarah exclaimed, and many of the people around the group looked at her in confusion. Lillia sat down next to Nikole, looking at the parchment. _

"_What is that?" Lillia asked, as she reached for a piece of toast. Nikole briefly explained the 'Pentagon Theory' as she was now calling it, and Lillia looked seriously at Sarah. _

"_She's right. Your always to busy with you homework to notice Blaise's drooling." Laura burst out laughing, joining Shinae and Nikole, who were struggling to hide their giggles from an irritated Sarah, who was glaring at Lillia. _

"_Nik, can I scab a cig before Transfiguration? My mum's sending me a couple of pouches this afternoon." Lillia asked the girl next to her, and as Nikole nodded, Shinae, Lillia and Nikole all stood up to head to a nearby bathroom. Sarah shook her head. _

"_Why don't you just give up trying to make them quit smoking?" Laura asked, and Sarah shook her head. _

"_It's so repulsive! How could they do that to themselves?" Sarah shook her head, and picked up her backpack. "Time for Transfiguration" she added. _

_There were three empty seats in Transfiguration. _


End file.
